


A Bad Feeling About This

by edibleflowers



Category: Popslash
Genre: Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-12
Updated: 2012-09-12
Packaged: 2017-11-14 02:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/510450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edibleflowers/pseuds/edibleflowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JC's watched The Phantom Menace one too many times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bad Feeling About This

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically crackfic. Set during the PopOdyssey tour.
> 
> There's a lovely [Making the Fic](http://boudicca.com/unaware/mtf3.html) of this, written by Maggie (bossymarmalade).

JC always knew that they'd watch Star Wars one too many times and someone would crack. He just didn't think it would be Chris. After JC bought Episode One on DVD and they'd watched it a few times, Chris started walking around talking like Yoda all the time. Justin bitched incessantly, but JC thought it was funny. He played along with him, even though Justin started griping that "you're only encouraging him".

JC thought Justin might be jealous, but it was the first time he and Chris had really seriously bonded over anything, and he was enjoying it. Chris would lean over during a soundcheck and mutter, "idiot, that woman is," and JC would crack up.

Justin threatened to throw the _Phantom Menace_ DVD out the window one evening. JC promised to hide it. It kept popping up in the DVD player anyway.

"Strong, the Force is," Chris said sagely when confronted. Justin started tickling him, and Chris squeaked. "Cannot tickle a Jedi Master! Punished, you will be!"

* * *

"All right," Joey said one day. "So if Chris is Yoda, what does that make me?"

"Obi-Wan," JC replied instantly.

"What?" Joey and Justin said at the same moment.

" _I'm_ fucking Obi-Wan," Justin said.

"You wish," Lance said, exploding with laughter. Justin cuffed him on the shoulder.

"No, you're Anakin," JC said.

That made Justin happy. "Dude, I get to be Darth Vader," he crowed.

"And you get to be all ugly and shit," Chris put in.

"Who does that make you and Lance, then?" Joey asked.

"Qui-Gon, JC is," Chris said in the voice they were coming to associate with his Yoda ramblings. It wasn't really quite Yoda's voice, but it was high-pitched and scratchy, serving its purpose. "And Amidala, Lance is."

"I'm not the fucking girl," Lance said heatedly.

"Yes you are," and that started off another round of wrestling between Justin and Lance. Chris watched them and grinned.

"Doesn't Amidala get with Anakin eventually?" Joey said quietly, in that tone of one who's only familiar with the canon through second-hand knowledge. JC smiled and said nothing.

* * *

Joey felt Justin's annoyance, though he certainly was glad that he didn't throw fits like Justin did. Still, he couldn't really blame Justin. He pretty much felt the same way, although in his case, it was directed towards JC.

It wasn't like they'd been best friends, but they'd always been close. Always, since way back before the group started, when he moved to Florida and somehow wound up one day defending the skinny kid from some assholes who didn't have anything better to do than pick on strangers. Joey had always felt kind of protective of JC after that.

And then recently JC had somehow started working this gorgeous vibe, projecting it unconsciously -- and unselfconsciously -- and Joey was really enjoying it. So of course he was going to be a bit annoyed that JC hung out with Chris more now. It wasn't like Joey was in love with JC or anything.

He just liked to look at him. JC was a comfortable place for him to rest his eyes.

So he was glad that JC started calling him "Padawan", even though the first time he said it Joey'd spit out his mouthful of Coke and Justin had splurted with laughter.

"Padawhat?" Joey'd managed, while cleaning up his mess.

"You're my Padawan learner, Obi-Wan," JC intoned, and Justin laughed harder.

"Sure, whatever," Joey muttered, inwardly pleased.

"You have to call him Qui-Gon," Justin hooted.

"Can I kill the infant, Qui-Gon?" Joey asked.

"Sure," JC shrugged. "He's gonna end up on the Dark Side anyway."

"What--" Justin yelled, just before Joey tackled him to the floor.

* * *

They stopped at a Wal-Mart somewhere in Wisconsin at three a.m., and Joey found a huge display of Star Wars stuff on clearance in the toy aisle. On impulse, he grabbed a pair of green lightsabers and paid for them when JC wasn't looking.

He hung on to them for a while, feeling weird about it at first and then annoyed because he realized he should have picked up a blue and a green one instead of two green ones. Finally he told himself he was being stupid and stuck one in JC's bunk while JC was in the shower.

JC cried out with delight when he came back to his bunk and found it. Joey grinned to himself, but he wasn't expecting JC to swoop down on him, squeeze his arms around Joey's neck, and give him a breathless kiss on the cheek.

"Uh, you're welcome," Joey grinned up at him.

"Come, Padawan, we must learn the ways of the Force," JC intoned.

"Put your clothes on first." Joey tried hard not to look at the towel tied around JC's waist, slipping dangerously low.

"A Jedi needs not clothes to fight." JC tugged the lightsaber open, lighting it up with a flick of the switch.

"No, but you do." Joey grabbed the lightsaber, smothering a grin as JC's face went mournful for a moment. He couldn't help but watch JC's ass as he retreated into the bunk area to get his clothes. It was just nice to look at.

* * *

Chris walked up to Lance one day on the bus, his hands folded in that way that they'd come to associate with his Yoda-esque nuggets of bizarreness, a deep look on his face. JC leaned forward eagerly; Lance raised an eyebrow, waiting.

Chris's mouth twitched at the corner. Thoughtfully, he said, "Hot, the infant is. Fuck him, you should."

Lance's mouth dropped. JC had to cover his mouth to smother his laughter.

"Fuck yourself, Chris," Lance snapped, eyes stormy.

"A physical impossibility, that is," Chris said, in a voice both amused and regretful. He glanced over at JC, his eyes twinkling, and winked; Lance slipped past Chris and stomped off down the main aisle of the bus.

"Master Yoda," JC said, not very successfully trying to keep the giggles out of his voice, "why did you tell Lance that?"

Chris gave him a faint Mona Lisa smile. "You will see, Qui-Gon. You will see."

* * *

A few days later, JC rounded a corner in the hotel where they were staying and saw Lance and Justin kissing. Both of them looked totally into it; Lance's eyes were shut tight, as if he couldn't bear to let anything interrupt his focus, and Justin was just damn sexy, leaning back against the wall, his hands loose on Lance's hips, Lance pressed into him.

JC grinned a little, meaning to turn around and go. He couldn't tear his eyes away from them. It was better than porn.

"C--" Joey's voice, and JC turned abruptly then, smacking into Joey. He grabbed Joey's arm and pulled him down the hallway.

"Keep it down," JC whispered.

"What?" Joey asked, lowering his voice.

JC hitched a thumb in the direction of the cross corridor. "Didn't want to interrupt them."

"Who?" Joey hissed.

JC grinned. "Justin and Lance."

"Justin and Lance." Joey repeated it slowly, without comprehension. JC's grin widened. "Justin and Lance are what?"

JC thought his smile was going to split his face in half. "Making out."

"What? No fucking way--" Joey started to move past JC, but JC grabbed his shoulder.

"No, man, don't go down there."

"You're yanking my chain."

"All right, see for yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you." JC smiled, watching Joey walk back down the hallway, saw him tense and freeze when he got to the corner. After a moment, he turned around and came back, his posture decidedly stiffer.

"Oh," Joey said.

JC's eyes danced. "Yep."

* * *

"Um. We. are. Me and Lance. We're going out," Justin said the next morning, while they were getting their stuff together in the hallway. Lance reached for Justin's hand.

Chris gave them a saturnine smile. "Knew it, I did."

JC couldn't help but grin at Lance's slightly embarrassed look. "Yeah. Thanks," Lance said, and then the bodyguards and bellcaps arrived to start carting baggage down.

* * *

The problem was, Joey thought, it only made Chris worse. Because he'd been right, because he was always right. He was intolerable now. And Justin's sour mood had evaporated, so he played along, and Joey was starting to feel left out again.

Even when they stopped at rest stops and goofed off with lightsabers in the parking lot, Joey couldn't figure it out. He thought it might have something to do with JC, though.

"Padawan!" JC called, and Joey looked up. Then he cursed. He was starting to get used to the whole thing.

* * *

"You're watching that again?" Justin asked, wandering into JC's room. As usual, everyone was congregating there, and _Phantom Menace_ was once again playing.

"It's on TV," Lance commented. Justin flopped down on the floor next to Lance, who had his back propped up against one of the beds, and put his head on Lance's thigh. Joey glanced over at JC, sprawled out on the other bed with Chris half-across his back, sound asleep, and sighed a little.

The movie was nearly over when Chris snorted and woke up. "What'd I miss?" he mumbled.

"Qui-Gon's dead," Justin mumbled, his eyes hooded; Lance was stroking the fine crop of his hair with one smooth palm.

"Fuck, I missed it," Chris muttered, climbing off JC to stand and stretch.

"You wanted to see that?" Joey said softly, his eyes focused on the screen, where Obi-Wan fought Darth Maul, face hardened with rage.

"The way he screams when he dies," Chris said. "He's got it bad for him, you think?"

"Yeah," Lance said softly.

"Obi-Wan?" JC put in.

Chris snorted. "No, fucking Jar Jar."

"Yeah," Joey said, his voice as thick and deep as Lance's in that moment.

"I. Don't. Really?" JC managed to say.

"Watch," Chris said. On the screen, Obi-Wan had defeated Darth Maul at last, and dropped his lightsaber to rush to Qui-Gon's side. The room fell silent, hushed, as Qui-Gon spoke his final words, reaching a hand up to brush Obi-Wan's cheek with one fingertip.

"Huh," JC said softly.

* * *

At the catered lunch the next day, JC sat down next to Joey, sliding down on the picnic table bench and bumping Joey's hip.

"Hey," he said.

Joey nodded a greeting, his mouth full of fried chicken. When JC stayed there, hip pressed to his, he glanced at him, one eyebrow going up.

"What?" JC said.

"Nothin'," Joey said, confused. The others had already eaten -- Joey had been detained by a phone call from his mom, and JC'd had some kind of phone interview --so they were alone at the table.

JC moved a little bit, so Joey relaxed, going back to his lunch. They ate in companionable silence for a while. When Joey finished eating, he wiped his fingers on a napkin and picked up his paper plate, but,

"Wait a second," JC said, so Joey put the plate back down and took a drink of water instead.

"'Sup?" Joey said.

JC hadn't really eaten that much, Joey noticed; he'd mostly pushed the potato salad and pasta around on his plate, which he was still doing now, using a plastic fork. "Well, uh, I was thinking about the movie. You know, what Chris was saying yesterday--"

"Yeah, I remember," Joey said, and tried to will himself to be spontaneously elsewhere. Anywhere would be good. It didn't seem to be working. Shit.

"So. I got to thinking, you know, Qui-Gon should have said something, because when he died, all he talked about was Anakin, and that wasn't really very fair. So--" JC reached over, not having to reach very far, and pressed the palm of his hand to Joey's cheek.

Joey raised his eyes to JC's, found himself mesmerized, caught by a shifting mixture of silver-green-gold-hazel. "C," he said, or tried to say; he wasn't sure he could even speak right now.

"So I'm telling you," JC said, and smiled, a hesitant expression that reminded Joey of an animal poised for flight. "Cause, you know, you're my Padawan."

"Just your Padawan?" Joey managed to say, forcing his tone to stay upbeat, light.

JC's eyes closed for a moment. "No," he said softly, looked at Joey again. "But, uh. More than that. I hope."

He seemed frozen, so Joey did the only thing he could think of to do, which was to move forward and -- tentative, careful, delicate as he knew how to be with hands that broke things regularly, with arms more suited to heavy lifting than forming graceful dance moves -- touch JC back. Pressed a palm to JC's shoulder, bared by the sleeveless v-necked shirt he wore; slipped the other hand over JC's slender waist, feeling the skin shiver under his touch; bent his head and placed his lips on JC's.

JC sighed into him, swaying a little, arms folding around Joey's waist. At the end of the kiss, he put his forehead down against Joey's shoulder. Joey stroked the silky lion's mane, smiling softly when JC pulled back to look at him.

"Is that what Qui-Gon should have done?" Joey asked.

JC nodded, mouth forming a tremulous grin. "I think the pupil has exceeded the master," he said, and Joey smiled back, his arm tightening around JC's waist.

"I think the master still has a lot to teach," he said, and as JC kissed him again, he knew that he'd be looking forward to all the lessons to come.


End file.
